PDF version here.
We are a group of 60+ feminists from Canada, G7 countries and around the world. We represent
feminist organizations and activists working on a cross-section of issues, to address discrimination and
inequalities on the basis of gender and other intersecting factors. We are at the frontline of resistance
and progress on issues ranging from climate change to gender-based violence, from child care to
foreign policy.
We’ve come together to establish a feminist vision for the 2018 G7 and beyond. Two G7 leaders
have publicly declared themselves feminists, identifying gender equality as a priority for their foreign
and domestic policies. We take this opportunity to call on all G7 leaders to adopt progressive
approaches, allying themselves with feminist aspirations.
The world desperately needs new solutions. Feminists are increasingly holding the line in the face of
coordinated attempts to roll-back hard-won rights. Our ability to collectively organize is severely
diminished. Progress on global challenges is too slow. Our health, wellbeing and lives depend on bold
political action.
Decisions made by the G7 have global impact. Bringing a feminist lens to the G7 has the potential to
dramatically shift how decisions are made – and who wins and loses. Feminists have largely been
absent from G7-related decision-making spaces. If the G7 is to truly advance gender equality, then
feminist leaders must be heard and feminist approaches must be supported.
We call on G7 leader to adopt feminist approach that seeks to uproot structural and systemic
inequalities and transform systems of power, many of which are grounded in social constructions of
gender and patriarchal attempts to control women’s bodies and choices. A meaningful feminist
approach works to end discriminatory laws, policies and programmes by ensuring all people have
agency, autonomy, choice, empowerment and space to engage at all levels of decision-making.
…Centers the diversity of lived experiences and expertise, especially those most impacted by
G7 decisions, policies and programmes. Consultation should involve hearing and acting on the
inputs from women in all their diversity. Targets should be set for meaningful participation by women
who represent the full range of feminist organizing (with an emphasis on indigenous women) in policy
processes. Greater transparency of decision-making and year-on-year reporting of actions taken (as
well as results achieved) relating to women’s rights should become the norm at the G7.
…Guarantees resources for feminist movements. Ambitious new investments in feminist organizing
— both within G7 countries and globally – are required. New funding mechanisms and pathways are
required to ensure money lands in the pockets of organizations who need it the most. Funders should
move beyond competitive funding mechanisms, toward those that support collaboration and movement
building. Resources should be accessible to diverse women-led organizations, flexible in nature and
sustained over the long-term, supporting objectives defined by women-led organizations themselves.
Reporting, as well as monitoring and evaluation requirements, should be streamlined to avoid onerous
administrative burdens.
…Establishes a new economic model. We need a just and equitable transition of our current
economic model based on exploitation and extractivism to an economy based on sustainability and
social, economic and cultural rights for all in both the formal and informal economy. Too many women
are facing precarious, dangerous and exploitative work situations. Instead of inclusive growth, G7
leaders should work towards inclusive economic security which requires investments in decent work
and livelihoods, universal public services, social protection based on needs, the recognition, reduction
and redistribution of unpaid care work and food sovereignty. Our economic model must work for women
in G7 countries and the rest of the world. That will require a feminist approach to economics, moving
away from policies that fuel conflict, inequality, poverty, climate change and land grabbing towards the
expansion of fair trade, tax justice and a equitable and just shared global economy.
…Integrates intersectionality. An intersectional approach that recognizes the multiple and intersecting
aspects of identity that play out in women’s lives and experiences, such as class or race, and that
compound and exacerbate oppression and marginalization, must be applied. This approach challenges
us to expand our understanding of gender beyond binaries (woman/man, femininity/masculinity).
Adopting an intersectional lens to gender based analysis means centering women of all backgrounds
including Indigenous women, women of colour, women with disabilities, LBTQ, among others, in all
decision-making, recognizing the diversity among women with different levels of privilege and
vulnerabilities but all are deserving of equal voice. An intersectional feminist approach requires
meaningful engagement of those directly affected in decision-making processes. We urge the G7 to
ensure feminists are heard on political, economic, social, ecological and cultural issues – all issues are
feminist issues. Affirming and amplifying women’s agency is key to this.
…Grounded in accountability. The G7 must be accountable to those most affected by their policies
and actions. States must implement existing human rights obligations, including the Convention on the
Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women, the UN Declaration on the RIghts of
Indigenous Peoples, among others. As well, the 2018 G7 should outline how it has responded to the
recommendations of the W7 (and other social engagement groups). A key element of accountability is
the regular collection, analysis and use of data disaggregated along intersectional gender lines. Greater
transparency on the impacts of policy choices will greatly enhance accountability to feminist
organizations and movements.
A complete set of recommendations – addressing intersectional feminism, women’s economic
empowerment, peace and security, climate change, feminist movement building, sexual and
reproductive health and rights, and violence against women – will follow in May.
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PDF version here.
Contact information:
Ketty Nivyabandi, Nobel Women’s Initiative
(613) 501 3021
Laura Neidhart, Canada Without Poverty
(613) 293-2446
[email protected]°©‐csp.ca